Evolving Morphology of the Large-Scale Relativistic Jets from XTE J1550-564

Giulia Migliori; Stéphane Corbel; John A Tomsick; Philip Kaaret; Rob P Fender; Tasso Tzioumis; Mickaël Coriat; Jerome A Orosz

doi:10.1093/mnras/stx1864

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Evolving Morphology of the Large-Scale Relativistic Jets from XTE J1550-564

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Evolving Morphology of the Large-Scale Relativistic Jets from XTE J1550-564

Giulia Migliori, Stéphane Corbel, John A Tomsick, Philip Kaaret, Rob P Fender, Tasso Tzioumis, Mickaël Coriat and Jerome A Orosz

Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol.472(1), pp.141-165

07/21/2017

DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stx1864

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Abstract

We present an in-depth study of the large-scale, western jet of the microquasar XTE J1550-564, based on X-ray and radio observations performed in 2002-2003. The jet is spatially resolved in both observing windows. The X-ray jet is expanding in time along the axis of the jet's propagation: we observe the formation of a tail (~2.25"), which appears to extend backwards with an apparent velocity ~-0.10c. The origin of this feature is discussed in the framework of scenarios of energy dissipation. A single power-law adequately describes the broadband spectra, supporting a synchrotron origin of the X-ray emission. However, a spectral break at ~10^{15} Hz is necessary in coincidence with a re-flare at 8.64 GHz in September 2002. This finding may be indicative of emission from newly accelerated low-energy particles. The first detection of the jet is in February 2001 (F_{8.64GHz}=0.25+/-0.09 mJy) in the flux rising phase. A phase of stable emission is followed by a rapid decay (t_{decay}=167+/-5 days). The decay at radio frequencies is significantly shorter than in X-rays (t_{decay}=338+/-14 days). We detected a high fraction (up to ~9%) of linearly polarized radiation at 4.8 GHz and 8.6 GHz. The orientation of the electric vector is consistent with the picture of a shock-compressed magnetic field, and there are hints of variations on month-timescales, possibly connected with the evolution of the jet structure.

Physics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena

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Title: Subtitle: Evolving Morphology of the Large-Scale Relativistic Jets from XTE J1550-564
Creators: Giulia Migliori - Université Paris Diderot
Stéphane Corbel - Université Paris Diderot
John A Tomsick - University of California, Berkeley
Philip Kaaret - University of Iowa
Rob P Fender - University of Oxford
Tasso Tzioumis - CSIRO
Mickaël Coriat - Université de Toulouse
Jerome A Orosz - San Diego State University
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol.472(1), pp.141-165
DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stx1864
ISSN: 0035-8711
eISSN: 1365-2966
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Grant note: DOI: 10.13039/501100004100, name: Labex, award: ANR-10-LABX-0023, ANR-11-IDEX-0005-02
Language: English
Date published: 07/21/2017
Academic Unit: Physics and Astronomy
Record Identifier: 9984199739802771

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